Beach chalet in Sandilands is ‘flushed’ with success

A controversial beach chalet that was built in Sandilands has now won, not one, but two Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awards.

The awards were presented at a glittering event held at The Roundhouse in Derby last Thursday evening (May 25).

The beach hut - which is on top of a former public toilet - is owned by Tim Spring and was built by Holton le Clay based Jonathan Hendry Architects Ltd.

The business won the RIBA Regional Award as well as the Small Project of the Year award.

“We were delighted when the beach hut was given not one but two awards,” Jonathan Hendry said.

“The project received really positive comments from the judging panel who visited it.

“It is a modest, coastal building up against much larger projects but proved that an architectural project doesn’t have to be big to be beautiful.”

The judges gave their seal of approval to the beach hut which overcame residents’ opposition at the start of the building process.

In their final comments, judges said the beach hut is ‘an uplifting inhabited piece of artwork that was created in the most unlikely location’.

They added they were ‘confident’ that the beach hut would soon appear on postcards.

They were also impressed the project had been completed on a budget of just £30,000.

Regional jury chair, Robert Evans of Evans Vettori Architects, said of this year’s winners: “The jury were delighted by the exceptionally wide range of entries submitted. Each of the winning schemes demonstrates the great architecture that results from a partnership between a passionate client and a committed, imaginative architect.”

He added that in very different ways, every scheme ‘added enormously’ to their locality. He stressed the designs would ‘engage and delight’ for years to come.